Nokia and Amazon Sign Patent Deal to Settle Streaming Dispute

The long-running pan-European battle over video streaming-related technology between Nokia and Amazon (Prime) has this morning been settled with the announcement of a new license agreement – Nokia’s first patent license deal with a major streaming platform. But the terms of the agreement remain confidential.

Nokia originally filed several legal challenges against Amazon in 2023 for the allegedly unauthorised use of their video-related technologies in Amazon’s services and devices, which focused upon the Amazon Prime Video service and Amazon’s streaming boxes. Several related cases were also launched in the USA, Germany, India, the UK and the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

Since then Amazon has suffered some setbacks, such as in the USA and Germany. For example, in a ruling of September 2024, the Munich Regional court in Germany found that Amazon had infringed one of Nokia’s patents. The good news is that Nokia today announced it has signed a patent agreement with Amazon covering the use of Nokia’s video technologies in Amazon’s streaming services and devices.

The agreement “resolves all patent litigation between the parties, in all jurisdictions“, said the announcement

Arvin Patel, Chief Licensing Officer New Segments at Nokia, said:

“We are pleased to have reached agreement on the use of Nokia’s video technologies in Amazon’s streaming services and devices.”

Nokia’s multimedia technologies include video processing, coding, storage, display, user interface, and much more. This work continues today. Last year Nokia filed over 140 video-related patent applications, more than 50% related to the proposed H.267 core codec, with additional filings in areas such as the complementary standard VSEI (versatile supplemental enhancement information) and MPEG video standards.

Nokia states that it has invested over €150bn in R&D since 2000 (including over €4.5 billion in 2024 alone) for cutting edge technologies, including cellular and multimedia.